Inside the monitoring room of the Hanla Building, several people were watching dozens of CCTV footages on many screens.
Suddenly,
Beep. Beep.
An alarm signaling the activation of a motion sensor began to sound.
“Where is it?!”
“It’s the storage room for cleaning supplies in room 315 on the 3rd floor!”
In response to the monitoring room administrator’s query, a subordinate quickly replied.
“We’ve confirmed the appearance of a Golden Bat in room 315 on the 3rd floor!”
Another employee who had been observing the 3rd floor CCTV then shouted after spotting the image of the Golden Bat on the screen.
“Attention! This is the monitoring room. We’ve confirmed the presence of the golden bat on the 3rd floor. All guides on the 3rd floor should urgently head to the cleaning supply storage room in 315 to make contact with the golden bat.”
Moments later,
“Are you the Golden Bat?”
(Yes. But who are you?)
The Golden Bat, who had been looking around for ramen, encountered a guide.
“We’re here to direct you to where the items you need are stored. What exactly are you looking for?”
(I need ramen.)
“Do you have a specific type in mind?”
(I’m not sure. Sejun just told me to bring as much ramen as possible.)
“So, as much as possible? Got it. Please follow us. We will guide you to the ramen storage. You can sit on my shoulder.”
(Okay!)
As the Golden Bat perched on the man’s shoulder,
“Have this as we move.”
The man opened a fruit lunchbox he had prepared for the Golden Bat’s visit and handed it a grape.
(Thank you!)
Munch, munch.
The Golden Bat nibbled on the grape as they moved towards the ramen storage.The Hanla Building, which had once been occupied by various offices, was now operating solely as a distribution center for the golden bat.
Upon arriving at the ramen storage, the Golden Bat, with the help of the warehouse staff, gathered the ramen.
(Pip-pip. Thank you. I’ll be off now.)
Flap! Flap!
The Golden Bat, clutching 100 packets of ramen in its claws, expressed gratitude to the helpful individuals and teleported back to the tower.
However,
Thud.
“Huh?!”
Of the 20 bundles of ramen, each containing five packs, only 1 bundle remained clutched in the Golden Bat’s grasp, while the other 19 had fallen to the ground.
***
“Hehehe. I wonder how many packets of ramen Golden Bat will bring?”
As Sejun planted cherry tomatoes, he awaited the return of the golden bat from Earth. He hoped the golden bat would bring at least two packets of ramen so that he and Cuengi could share one each.
Even though he asked for as much as possible, he tried not to expect too much. Just the fact that the Golden Bat could fetch items from the outside world was a blessing.
Initially, when the Golden Bat first traveled between back and forth from Earth, Sejun was greedy. He wanted to equip the golden bat with a pocket space magic spell to bring a large quantity of items.
But Iona stopped him, explaining the dangers of interfering with dimensional travel, especially when using space-related magic like the pocket space, there’s a risk it could interfere with the golden bat’s travel, diverting it elsewhere or, in the worst-case scenario, trapping it between dimensions.
Then,
Flap. Flap.
(Pip-pip! Sejun, I’m back!)
The Golden Bat returned.
(I managed to bring a lot of ramen!)
The Golden Bat exclaimed excitedly, but then,
(Huh?)
Realizing its load was lighter than expected, it quickly looked down. To its surprise, it was holding only a single bundle of ramen.
(Pip… I had packed a lot of ramen… Sejun, I’m sorry.)
The golden bat, its voice tinged with sadness, approached Sejun.
However,
“Wow! Golden Bat, you did amazing! You brought five packets of ramen!”
Sejun stared in disbelief at the ramen the golden bat had brought. He had hoped to have at least one packet to share with Cuengi, but the Golden Bat had fetched five packets of ramen.
Moreover, all were of different varieties: three different types of regular soup ramen, one jjajang ramen (aka black bean sauce ramen), and one extremely spicy chicken ramen. It was a tremendous success.
“You did well, Golden Bat!”
(Pip-pip. Did I do well?)
“Of course! Come here!”
Sejun stretched out his hand.
(Okay!)
“Here, have this.”
Sejun handed the golden bat, which had landed on his palm, a white cherry tomato. It was a elixir-grade cherry tomato.
(Thank you!)
Munch, munch.
The Golden Bat began eagerly sucking the juice out of the cherry tomato.
‘Sejun’s fruits are always the best!’
Even though the golden bat had just been treated with fruit from Earth, but the fruit he had eaten on Earth was nothing compared to this.
“Hehehe. I’ll eat these ramen for dinner later.”
Sejun needed time to digest Aileen’s Healthy Meatball piece. Thus, with five packets of ramen secured thanks to the golden bat, Sejun diligently planted cherry tomatoes in order to quickly empty his stomach.
Then,
[The magical cherry tomatoes are grateful for the farmer’s footsteps and lend their strength.]
[Your Magic stat potential has increased from 105 to 106.]
Thanks to Sejun’s hard work in the cherry tomato field, his magic potential also increased by 1.
While Sejun was hard at work,
Krueng! Krueng!
[Cuengi’s getting hungry! Cuengi wants to meet Cuengi’s Grandma and eat her cooking!]
Cuengi was watching his grandmother cook through the Mirror of Longing and salivating. Kim Mi-ran, who had unexpectedly become a grandmother, was now not only a grandmother but also a cooking show host.
Chew, chew.
Cuengi, watching the cooking show, took out a raw sweet potato from his snack pouch to eat.
Krueng?
[What’s brother Black Rabbit doing?]
Suddenly, Cuengi missed the Black Rabbit and infused magic into the Bronze Mirror, thinking of him.
The mirror then showed the Black Rabbit, holding a mallet behind his back, trying to sneak up on someone, suppressing his laughter.
Krueng?
[Cuengi has seen that back many times before.]
That back looked familiar.
Then,
Squeak!!!
“Ahh! You scared me!”
From where Sejun was working, a roar from the Black Rabbit followed by Sejun’s scream were heard. As soon as he arrived on the 99th floor of the tower, the Black Rabbit played a prank on Sejun.
***
“Hey! You startled me!”
But as Sejun was about to scold the Black Rabbit for suddenly appearing and screaming,
Squeak!
[Uncle, I missed you!]
Jump!
Rub, rub.
The Black Rabbit quickly climbed onto Sejun’s shoulder and affectionately rubbed its cheek against Sejun’s face. It’s unfair to act so affectionate after that.
“Have you been well?”
Squeak! Squeak!
[Yes! I came today because of this!]
Snap.
The Black Rabbit pulled out a piece of paper.
“Huh? What’s this?”
It was a wedding invitation to Black Rabbit and ChuChu’s wedding scheduled one month from now on the 55th floor of the tower, along with an inauguration ceremony to announce the founding of the new Red Ribbon Kingdom.
“Black Rabbit, congratulations, and well done!”
Squeak! Squeak!
[That’s right! I had a really hard time!]
As Sejun praised him, the Black Rabbit affectionately rubbed Sejun’s cheek again. It must’ve been hard for him to act like this on the 55th floor where he had a high status.
While Sejun was petting the Black Rabbit,
Squeak?
[Uncle, you won’t be able to come, right?]
The Black Rabbit asked Sejun with a hopeful expression, though he phrased it as a negative to guard against disappointment.
However,
“I’m sorry… You know why, right?”
Sejun could not meet the Black Rabbit’s expectations. To move to the 55th floor, one needed to have a waypoint registered or possess a land deed for the 55th floor, but Sejun had neither.
It would be convenient if the Black Rabbit could simply issue him a land deed, but a land deed item differed from a regular deed. The tower itself produced the land deed item, and even the Dragons couldn’t interfere with it.
Squeak…
[It’s okay…]
The Black Rabbit replied dejectedly.
Then,
“Black Rabbit, when did you arrive, meow?!”
Theo, who had been napping on Sejun’s lap, awoke and pretended to have just now notice the Black Rabbit.
Squeak! Squeak!
[I just got here! I’m getting married in a month!]
“Congratulations, meow! I’ll give you a great present at the wedding, meow!”
As Theo and the Black Rabbit chatted,
Krueng!
[Big bro!]
Cuengi ran over, calling out to the Black Rabbit.
***
2nd Floor of the Black Tower.
“So we can just ascend to the 2nd floor now?”
“It’s all thanks to Gagel.”
The newly awakened hunters, thanks to their tickets, looked at the expansive experience farm stretching endlessly on either side.
Gagel’s experience farm gradually expanded in scale, taking over the entire second floor of the tower. The skeletons that were on this floor turned into nutrients for the corrupted cherry tomatoes and had completely withered.
Thanks to this, the hunters could comfortably ascend to the 3rd floor without having to battle any monsters.
As the hunters admired the experience farm and reached the waypoint of the 2nd floor, placing their hands on the red crystal,
[You have cleared the 2nd floor.]
The floor was cleared easily.
[For clearing the 2nd floor, you have gained 5000 experience points, 1 tower coin, and the Novice’s Sword.]
On top of that, they received the 2nd-floor clearing reward. If Sejun, who had never received a floor clearing reward, had seen this, he would have felt aggrieved.
[The 2nd floor’s waypoint has been saved.]
[Moving to the 3rd floor.]
The hunters that arrived on the 3rd floor exclaimed,
“Wow! There’s an experience farm here too?”
They discovered corrupted cherry tomatoes planted in the ground. An experience farm was also being set up on part of the 3rd floor of the tower.
***
“Use the treasures in the treasure vault as you like, Black Rabbit.”
Sejun said as he handed the guardian rabbit statue of the Red Ribbon Kingdom’s treasure vault, which allowed access to its contents, to the Black Rabbit as a wedding gift.
From the moment he acquired it, Sejun had planned to hand over these treasures to the Black Rabbit once he married Chuchu.
‘With this amount of treasure, our Black Rabbit won’t face any hardships!’
It was all to boost the Black Rabbit’s spirit.
“Now, I have to get back to work. Black Rabbit, you eat these.”
Sejun handed over five elixir-grade cherry tomatoes. The Black Rabbit, who was about to become a king, needed to get stronger.
Squeak!
[Thank you! I’ll enjoy them!]
As Sejun ensured the Black Rabbit’s nourishment and returned to his work in the cherry tomato farm,
Chomp, chomp.
Squeak?
[What’s this?]
While eating the cherry tomatoes and examining the items in the treasure vault, the Black Rabbit casually unfolded a document he found in the treasure vault.
And then,
Whoosh.
The Black Rabbit vanished.
Krueng?
[Where did the big brother go?]
Cuengi, who had been eyeing the Black Rabbit’s cherry tomato, looked around in confusion.
Krueng!
[Dad, big brother Black Rabbit disappeared!]
Cuengi hurriedly called out to Sejun.
What?! Why did the Black Rabbit…”
Krueng! Krueng!
[Cuengi don’t know! Big Bro opened a rolled-up document like Dad and disappeared!]
“What?! A rolled-up document?”
At Cuengi’s words, Sejun recalled the land deed document he had stored in the treasure vault.
And then,
“Gasp!”
He gasped in realization. The land deeds stored in the vault were for the White Tower and the Blue Tower.
“Why would he open that?!”
It wasn’t Sejun’s place to scold since he himself had once opened a land deed, transporting him to the 77th floor, causing chaos on the 99th floor. Like uncle, like nephew.
“Cuengi, first use the bronze mirror to see if the Black Rabbit is okay! I’ll seek help from the dragons. Aileen!”
As Sejun instructed Cuengi, he called for Aileen and ran to where Kaiser and Kellion were. If he went to the White Tower, he could ask for help from Kellion or Ajax.
Krueng!
[Understood!]
Cuengi hurriedly checked on the Black Rabbit’s condition through the Bronze Mirror. The surroundings were covered in brilliantly shining white rocks making it easy to see the Black Rabbit. Thankfully, the Black Rabbit seemed unharmed.
At that moment, Black Rabbit took out his mallet, which he carried on his back, being cautious of his surroundings.
*****
*****
